Prevent waste: Design chemical syntheses to prevent waste, leaving no waste to treat or clean up.
Design safer chemicals and products: Design
chemical products to be fully effective, yet have little
or no toxicity.
Design less hazardous chemical syntheses: Design
syntheses to use and generate substances with little or
no toxicity to humans and the environment.
Use renewable feedstocks: Use raw materials
and feedstocks that are renewable rather than depleting.
Renewable feedstocks are often made from agricultural products
or are the wastes of other processes; depleting feedstocks
are made from fossil fuels (petroleum, natural gas, or
coal) or are mined.
Use catalysts, not stoichiometric reagents: Minimize
waste by using catalytic reactions. Catalysts are used
in small amounts and can carry out a single reaction many
times. They are preferable to stoichiometric reagents,
which are used in excess and work only once.
Avoid chemical derivatives: Avoid using
blocking or protecting groups or any temporary modifications
if possible. Derivatives use additional reagents and generate
waste.
Maximize atom economy: Design syntheses
so that the final product contains the maximum proportion
of the starting materials. There should be few, if any,
wasted atoms.
Use safer solvents and reaction conditions: Avoid
using solvents, separation agents, or other auxiliary chemicals.
If these chemicals are necessary, use innocuous chemicals.
Increase energy efficiency: Run chemical
reactions at ambient temperature and pressure whenever
possible.
Design chemicals and products to degrade after
use: Design chemical products to break down to
innocuous substances after use so that they do not accumulate
in the environment.
Analyze in real time to prevent pollution: Include
in-process real-time monitoring and control during syntheses
to minimize or eliminate the formation of byproducts.
Minimize the potential for accidents: Design chemicals
and their forms (solid, liquid, or gas) to minimize the potential
for chemical accidents including explosions, fires, and releases
to the environment.
Originally published by Paul Anastas and John Warner in Green Chemistry: Theory and Practice (Oxford University Press: New York, 1998).
©2008 Sustainnovation Consulting, Inc.
